WARNING, CONTAINS SPOILERS (the games have been out for roughly 18 years though, just saying)
Generation 2 is where I, PerchPond, started my Pokémon adventure. I've spent countless of hours with these games, so I felt like sharing some insight and good-to-knows that I've gathered.
Building a solid campaign team to beat the gen 2 games is harder and less liberal than in later generations due to a couple of reasons. 7 HM moves are needed to access all areas of Johto and Kanto, making HM-slaves a must, or spreading the HMs out through your team. Leveling is much slower and methods to do so are more limited than in newer generations, making planning your team more important. Red is one of the strongest in-game characters to be found in a Pokémon game, which means that having the right typings and high-enough levels is key to beating him.
Lets get to it.
Picking a starter
This is mostly based on preference, but I'll give some pointers to all three.
![[Image: meganium.png]](http://pokemonforever.com/images/pokeimages/gen2/meganium.png)
Meganium is a pivot/staller/screener with 80/100/100 defences that uses dual screens, Giga Drain and Toxic to beat oponnents. It learns Cut, Strength and Flash as HMs, which is good. First 2 gyms are very difficult without a second Pokémon to help with Flying- and Bug-types. Hard mode for the veteran player.
![[Image: typhlosion.png]](http://pokemonforever.com/images/pokeimages/gen2/typhlosion.png)
Typhlosion only really gets STAB Flamethrower/Fire Blast, but it's fast and hits relatively hard. It gets Strength and Cut as HM's, which is good. A solid choice overall.
![[Image: feraligatr.png]](http://pokemonforever.com/images/pokeimages/gen2/feraligatr.png)
Feraligatr is the worst of the three in my opinion. Water moves in gen 2 were all special, meaning Feraligatr had to use STAB moves coming from base 79 Special Attack. It's rather slow for a sweeper, and worst of all, it isn't even a complete Water HM-slave since it doesnt learn Waterfall. (This isn't SS/HG Feraligatr)
Key HM-categories
Waterslave: This refers to Pokémon that can learn all 3 Water-type HM's: Whirlpool, Waterfall and Surf. Noticeable examples are Gyarados, Golduck, Kingdra and Lanturn.
Flyer: This is the pre-historic age of generation 2, where features such as the Eon Flute and Charizard Glide are not even theoretical. Pokémon that learn the move Fly are what I call flyers, and serve as a mean to quickly travel between places. Mons worth mentioning are Crobat, Murkrow, Pidgeot, Dragonite and Skarmory.
Other HM-slaves
The remaining ones are Flash, Strength and Cut. I usually spread these out through out my team, but Pokemon such as Furret, Dragonite and Parasect learns several of them and can be used as pure HM-Slaves.
Mons for catching Legendaries
Silver and Gold feature roaming legendary hounds with a tendency to flee, as well as more common stationary legendaries such as Lugia.
In order to catch these, having specific Pokémon's moves makes it easier.
EDIT: Mean Look does not trap the three legendary hounds, since they can just Roar and the battle will end, HOWEVER, in gen 2 some wild Pokémon can flee from encounters, but are prevented from doing so by Mean Look.
Mean Looker:Prevents the hounds from fleeing while the user stays in combat. The foremost users of Mean Look are Gengar, Crobat and Jynx. They are fast and they all learn sleep-inducing moves which helps when catching Pokémon.
False-Swiper: Unfortunately, False Swipe is not a TM yet, making Scyther/Scizor the best users of the move. After putting the hounds to sleep, switch in your Swiper and put them as low as possible to increase the odds of getting yourself a new pet dog.
Types needed to smash Red to oblivion
So as I mentioned, Red is really strong. Like REALLY strong. Having the following Pokémon-types makes this battle easier and less impossible.
To beat Pikachuuuuu: Ground-types are the best, you take no damage from STAB Electric moves and you KO right back. Examples are Dugtrio, Donphan, Golem and Nidoking.
Snorlax: This guy is probably the hardest one to take down. Rest and high bulk means that if you lack power, it will regenerate over and over again. Snorlax, however, only carries Body Slam as an offensive move, making Rock-types good. Examples are Golem and Sudowoodo. I usually set up a couple of Curses and then use Earthquake if I have Golem and Low Kick for Sudowoodo. Fighting types are theoretically strong, but gen 2 lack heavily in strong STAB Fighting-type moves, leaving Machamp as the only strong option.
Venusaur: Quite easy to beat, use pretty much any Ice-types, Flying-types, Fire-types or Psychic-types.
Blastoise: Also rather easy. Electric-Types are the strongest, because Red's Blastoise carries Blizzard so Grass-Types can be detered (Light Screen Meganium doesn't care too much though). Examples are Meganium, Jolteon and Ampharos.
Charizard the crowd favorite: Easy I tell you, easy! Water-Types, Rock-Types and Electric-Types make quick work of the famed gen 1 starter. Examples are Jolteon, Ampharos, Golem, Sudowoodo and Kingdra.
Espeon: Fast, hits hard and has few weaknesses, which can make Espeon quite strong, unless you are a Dark-type, then you good. Ghost-Types, Dark-Types and Bug-Types are strong, such as Gengar, Houndoom and Scizor.
That's all the necessary considerations for generation 2 team building for your campaign that I can come up with. Now I leave it to you to try and fit all of this on 6 Pokémon mohahaha (Okay not a MUST, but convenient)
Feel free to point out inaccuracies (That's probably not a word) or things that are unclear.
Hopefully this was helpful and thanks for reading.
UPDATE FOR THE RELEASE OF POKÉMON CRYSTAL ON VIRTUAL CONSOLE:
The core of this guide applies to Crystal aswell. Sadly, Ampharos is not available in Crystal. The Odd Egg introduced in Crystal lets you hatch one of Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Tyrogue, Smoochum, Elekid and Magby, with increased Shiny-odds. This gives you early access to some strong and useful Pokémon (mostly Tyrogue's evolutions, Jynx, Electabuzz and Magmar) The Egg can be Soft-resetted just before hatching, both for a specific Pokémon of the 7 aswell as for getting a shiny. Any shiny you get can be transferred to newer games through the PokéBank.
Electabuzz is a good substitute for Ampharos with strong Electric STAB and Ice-coverage, aswell as getting the HMs Flash and Strength, on top of being available early through the Odd Egg.
Suicune will no longer roam Johto, but the other hounds will. Following some of my tips mentioned about catching mons with sleep and False Swipe will help when facing the stationary Suicune or looking for the other hounds.
A special Dratini with ExtremeSpeed can be obtained in the Dragon's Den.
Also, let me know if I've missed anything that's relevant to Crystal.
Cheers
Generation 2 is where I, PerchPond, started my Pokémon adventure. I've spent countless of hours with these games, so I felt like sharing some insight and good-to-knows that I've gathered.
Building a solid campaign team to beat the gen 2 games is harder and less liberal than in later generations due to a couple of reasons. 7 HM moves are needed to access all areas of Johto and Kanto, making HM-slaves a must, or spreading the HMs out through your team. Leveling is much slower and methods to do so are more limited than in newer generations, making planning your team more important. Red is one of the strongest in-game characters to be found in a Pokémon game, which means that having the right typings and high-enough levels is key to beating him.
Lets get to it.
Picking a starter
This is mostly based on preference, but I'll give some pointers to all three.
Meganium is a pivot/staller/screener with 80/100/100 defences that uses dual screens, Giga Drain and Toxic to beat oponnents. It learns Cut, Strength and Flash as HMs, which is good. First 2 gyms are very difficult without a second Pokémon to help with Flying- and Bug-types. Hard mode for the veteran player.
Typhlosion only really gets STAB Flamethrower/Fire Blast, but it's fast and hits relatively hard. It gets Strength and Cut as HM's, which is good. A solid choice overall.
Feraligatr is the worst of the three in my opinion. Water moves in gen 2 were all special, meaning Feraligatr had to use STAB moves coming from base 79 Special Attack. It's rather slow for a sweeper, and worst of all, it isn't even a complete Water HM-slave since it doesnt learn Waterfall. (This isn't SS/HG Feraligatr)
Key HM-categories
Waterslave: This refers to Pokémon that can learn all 3 Water-type HM's: Whirlpool, Waterfall and Surf. Noticeable examples are Gyarados, Golduck, Kingdra and Lanturn.
Flyer: This is the pre-historic age of generation 2, where features such as the Eon Flute and Charizard Glide are not even theoretical. Pokémon that learn the move Fly are what I call flyers, and serve as a mean to quickly travel between places. Mons worth mentioning are Crobat, Murkrow, Pidgeot, Dragonite and Skarmory.
Other HM-slaves
The remaining ones are Flash, Strength and Cut. I usually spread these out through out my team, but Pokemon such as Furret, Dragonite and Parasect learns several of them and can be used as pure HM-Slaves.
Mons for catching Legendaries
Silver and Gold feature roaming legendary hounds with a tendency to flee, as well as more common stationary legendaries such as Lugia.
In order to catch these, having specific Pokémon's moves makes it easier.
EDIT: Mean Look does not trap the three legendary hounds, since they can just Roar and the battle will end, HOWEVER, in gen 2 some wild Pokémon can flee from encounters, but are prevented from doing so by Mean Look.
Mean Looker:
False-Swiper: Unfortunately, False Swipe is not a TM yet, making Scyther/Scizor the best users of the move. After putting the hounds to sleep, switch in your Swiper and put them as low as possible to increase the odds of getting yourself a new pet dog.
Types needed to smash Red to oblivion
So as I mentioned, Red is really strong. Like REALLY strong. Having the following Pokémon-types makes this battle easier and less impossible.
To beat Pikachuuuuu: Ground-types are the best, you take no damage from STAB Electric moves and you KO right back. Examples are Dugtrio, Donphan, Golem and Nidoking.
Snorlax: This guy is probably the hardest one to take down. Rest and high bulk means that if you lack power, it will regenerate over and over again. Snorlax, however, only carries Body Slam as an offensive move, making Rock-types good. Examples are Golem and Sudowoodo. I usually set up a couple of Curses and then use Earthquake if I have Golem and Low Kick for Sudowoodo. Fighting types are theoretically strong, but gen 2 lack heavily in strong STAB Fighting-type moves, leaving Machamp as the only strong option.
Venusaur: Quite easy to beat, use pretty much any Ice-types, Flying-types, Fire-types or Psychic-types.
Blastoise: Also rather easy. Electric-Types are the strongest, because Red's Blastoise carries Blizzard so Grass-Types can be detered (Light Screen Meganium doesn't care too much though). Examples are Meganium, Jolteon and Ampharos.
Charizard the crowd favorite: Easy I tell you, easy! Water-Types, Rock-Types and Electric-Types make quick work of the famed gen 1 starter. Examples are Jolteon, Ampharos, Golem, Sudowoodo and Kingdra.
Espeon: Fast, hits hard and has few weaknesses, which can make Espeon quite strong, unless you are a Dark-type, then you good. Ghost-Types, Dark-Types and Bug-Types are strong, such as Gengar, Houndoom and Scizor.
That's all the necessary considerations for generation 2 team building for your campaign that I can come up with. Now I leave it to you to try and fit all of this on 6 Pokémon mohahaha (Okay not a MUST, but convenient)
Feel free to point out inaccuracies (That's probably not a word) or things that are unclear.
Hopefully this was helpful and thanks for reading.
UPDATE FOR THE RELEASE OF POKÉMON CRYSTAL ON VIRTUAL CONSOLE:
The core of this guide applies to Crystal aswell. Sadly, Ampharos is not available in Crystal. The Odd Egg introduced in Crystal lets you hatch one of Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Tyrogue, Smoochum, Elekid and Magby, with increased Shiny-odds. This gives you early access to some strong and useful Pokémon (mostly Tyrogue's evolutions, Jynx, Electabuzz and Magmar) The Egg can be Soft-resetted just before hatching, both for a specific Pokémon of the 7 aswell as for getting a shiny. Any shiny you get can be transferred to newer games through the PokéBank.
Electabuzz is a good substitute for Ampharos with strong Electric STAB and Ice-coverage, aswell as getting the HMs Flash and Strength, on top of being available early through the Odd Egg.
Suicune will no longer roam Johto, but the other hounds will. Following some of my tips mentioned about catching mons with sleep and False Swipe will help when facing the stationary Suicune or looking for the other hounds.
A special Dratini with ExtremeSpeed can be obtained in the Dragon's Den.
Also, let me know if I've missed anything that's relevant to Crystal.
Cheers
"To believe in an ideal, is to be willing to betray it"
VGC, Friend Safari, Masuda
VGC, Friend Safari, Masuda
to my dismay
